UConn football notebook: Christen kicking himself over misses

Updated 8:23 pm, Sunday, October 14, 2012

NO "HANGING" CHAD: After one of the most disappointing losses in recent memory and certainly the most frustrating loss in the Paul Pasqualoni era, the person most responsible for that loss was the first one into the interview room. And with tears welling up in his eyes, kicker Chad Christen tried to explain how the unthinkable had happened.

Christen missed three field goals in Saturday's 17-14 overtime loss to Temple at Rentschler Field. Even worse, he had a fourth attempt blocked. Christen was wide right on attempts from 36, 42 and 28 yards. The block came on a 44-yard try.

"Obviously, this is very, very tough," said Christen, a redshirt junior. "I respect these seniors so much. I wish I was able to get my part done. I didn't do my job. Every time I got the opportunity, I should be able to make them."

His first miss came in the first quarter, but the offense responded on the next two possessions to score touchdowns and take a 14-0 lead. His second and third miss came in the fourth quarter with the Huskies holding onto a slim 14-7 lead. The final, and most crucial miss, came in overtime. And even after missing the first three, Christen was sure he would make the fourth.

"I was pretty confident," he said. "It wasn't a long field goal, but field goals aren't automatic. I did my best and I just missed it."

Christen had been pretty accurate over the first six games, making seven of 10. And the three that he missed were from 51, 49 and 51 yards.

"I look forward to rebounding from this," Christen said. "I know all my teammates are supporting me to the fullest and I'm going to go out next week and try to do my best."

And afterwards his teammates were 100 percent behind Christen.

"(What would I tell him?) Keep your head up," defensive end Ryan Wirth said. "We're a team. I don't point fingers at anybody. No one on our team does. It's not our style. That's not going to get us anywhere."

After the game, Pasqualoni said that he would speak with Christen. And he did on Sunday.

"I just got through meeting, talking, watching the special teams film," Pasqualoni said Sunday in his post-game teleconference. "He's a tough guy, he's a positive guy. I believe he'll react very well to what happened."

Christen said that all of the field goals he's missed this season, including the three against Temple were wide right. But after watching the film, Pasqualoni didn't see any obvious flaws in Christen's technique.

"You know, we looked at the film very closely and I thought he approached the ball well," Pasqualoni said. "Regardless of the hash mark, he missed them to the right so that's a little bit puzzling. The one kick that got blocked was low. We're just going to go out and do a lot of work and give him a few more kicks."

SUPER SECOND START: After making a team-high 15 tackles in his first start of his career last week against South Florida, Temple freshman linebacker Tyler Matakevich of Stratford, did even better in his second start against UConn Saturday. The former St. Joseph High School star posted 19 tackles in the Owls 17-14 overtime win.

"The coaches have put in a scheme and we're just running the scheme," Matakevich said after the game. "Every week, we're trying to get better and better. We're still learning. We're young but we're doing everything we possibly can to make ourselves better and that our team better."

Matakevich helped the Cadets to back-to-back CIAC titles in 2009 and 2010, but the linebacker/running back missed the first five games of his senior season due to a broken foot, an injury which probably kept many schools -- including UConn -- from actively looking at him.

In an interview earlier in the week, Matakevich said that the Huskies never recruited him or offered a scholarship.

But Temple did. He arrived in January after a semester at Milford Academy and now stands at the top of the Big East along with Rutgers.

"There's no better feeling in the world," said Matakevich. "To be 2-0 in the Big East right now, it's an awesome feeling."